More bad customer service

I had another horrible experience with employees at a store today.  It is a large chain pet store and the location was one I had not been to before, and never will again.  I needed to purchase two dozen crickets for my leopard and bibron's geckos and had promised my girls a new fish for their fish tank.

It was busy inside the store and I stood in the cricket area for 10 minutes without being helped.  I was within sight of the cashiers and I know they saw me as we made eye contact.  After ten minutes, I went to an office where I found three managers and a dog trainer chatting.  I asked for assistance with crickets.  A manager told me there were two people in that department.  I informed them I had been waiting and no one was there.  She rudely told me again there was two people over there.  I demanded she help me.

One of our plecos

After she angrily packaged my crickets, I went to look at the female betta fish.  I was finally approached by an employee who did not ask if I need any help, he simply stated "Are you ok?"  All of the fish were in filthy water that had chunky debris floating in it.  It was obvious that the water hadn't been cleaned in a very long time.  I am an avid fish keeper and generally would never buy a fish kept in the conditions these fish were in. As I was checking out with what appeared to be the most "healthy" fish, the cashier told me all the fish had come in a day or two before.  It was very obvious this was not true.

I typically buy my crickets at another location of this store and don't have any problems.  It just reminds me that it is not always the company that needs to work on its customer service.  Sometimes a few bad people in a store are enough to ruin the whole experience.  I can guarantee I will never go to this location again.

Vaccinations

Nadia and Nicole seem to be overly aware of what is happening in their lives.  Starting around the age of 8 months they became fearful of going to the doctor.  They are terrified of vaccinations.  Nicole refuses to walk into the doctors office.  She is fine going to other doctors, just not her pediatrician.  Nadia will walk in but starts crying when we go back to the room. 

We have been trying to think of ways to lessen the fear of vaccinations.  They have seen me receive cortisone injections and seen Charles and I receive our flu shots.  While this seems to help a little, we are still searching for other ways to calm their fears.

Today they got to  witness our foster kittens receiving vaccinations.  The kittens needed their distemper boosters and Nadia and Nicole went along.

The kittens slept the entire ride and were very calm.  The kittens received a nose drop instead of an injection.  Even with having drops put in their noses, the kittens were calm and didn't go on the attack.  Afterwards they slept the drive home and are still asleep in their carrier.

I think it was good for Nadia and Nicole to see other species being calm about vaccinations, even if they are different from the needles they are used to.  It also lets them know that they are not being singled out for this "torture" and it happens to everyone and every animal.

Maybe the vaccine researchers can find a way to make vaccines into a nose drop for the youngsters.